Ohio Midterm Results Drive Overnight Coverage
Ideastream staff worked through the night to deliver live radio and television updates on the 2026 midterm election results.
By Sakura Ellis ·
Ideastream Public Media staff completed a full night of live broadcast coverage on November 3 to report the results of the 2026 midterm elections. The team operated across radio, television, and digital platforms from the station's Cleveland headquarters. The effort included live cut-ins to PBS NewsHour and a dedicated production on The Ohio Channel.
Amy Acton was declared the winner for governor earlier in the evening. Sherrod Brown won the race for U.S. Senate. Several statewide offices appeared to shift to the Democratic Party. In the U.S. House race for the 7th District, Democrat Brian Poindexter defeated Max Miller. Cuyahoga County officials had not yet certified the final numbers for that contest at the time of initial reporting.
Local school levies presented mixed results for voters. The levies in Elyria and Mentor passed early in the night. However, the majority of regional levies failed. Two-thirds of the proposed measures did not receive the necessary votes.
The broadcast infrastructure required a large technical team to maintain signal integrity. Engineers Rick Krumreig, Robert Packard, and John Roussel managed the connections. They resolved technical issues through a phone call with Rachel Rood and a video session with Aya Cathey. Both Rood and Cathey were scheduled to work the next morning on the Sound of Ideas. Tina Kocab operated master control while Chris Dudley managed audio. Jason Liechti directed the television broadcast with camera operators Jake Harness, Andrew Delly, and Sam Rho.
Radio coverage was hosted by Stephanie Haney and Glenn Forbes. They joined professors Colin Swearingen of John Carroll University and Cherie Strachan of the University of Akron for analysis. Jack Helbig engineered the radio broadcast. On the digital front, Stephanie Metzger-Lawrence and Dmitri Ashakih managed the website and social media updates.
Reporters covered specific geographic and topical assignments throughout the night. Sean McDonnell and Matt Richmond monitored Cuyahoga County races. Ella Abbott covered Summit County issues. Gabriel Kramer and Ygal Kaufman followed the Poindexter campaign. Zaria Johnson reported on suburban issues, while Amanda Pirani covered data center developments. Andrew Meyer handled most of the story edits.
During the daytime, Richard Cunningham and Jeff St. Clair interviewed voters at polling places. Amanda joined them in the field. The Statehouse News Bureau produced a separate television show with Karen Kasler anchoring. Jo Ingles reported on the Democratic side, while Sarah Donaldson and Dan Konick covered the Republican side. The bureau filed stories and live hits for public media stations across the state.
